JP4477646B2 - refrigerator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and is particularly suitable for a refrigerator that can be driven and opened by a door driving device.

  As this type of conventional refrigerator, there is one disclosed in JP 2006-308167 A (Patent Document 1).

  This refrigerator has a refrigerator body having a storage room, a pull-out type door that opens and closes a storage product entrance and exit of the storage room by moving parallel to and away from the refrigerator body, and a drawer operation associated with the movement of the door. A storage container to be taken in and out, a pull-out handle provided on the door, an operation responsive mechanism that responds to the operation of the handle, an electromagnetic device and a detector provided in the refrigerator body, and a handle A detector is operated by an operation responsive mechanism that responds to an operation, and the electromagnetic device is excited based on the operation of the detector to separate the door from the refrigerator body.

  A drawer handle, a front concave portion, and a support base are provided at the center of the front side of the upper side of the door. A handle having an inverted L-shaped cross section is supported by a support shaft of the support base so as to be able to rotate back and forth. The operation responsive mechanism is formed by pivotally supporting a plane L-shaped lever so as to be pivotable back and forth by a shaft on a support base. This lever has a receiving portion at a position corresponding to the upper rear end of the handle, and a permanent magnet is attached to the rear end portion so as to protrude rearward of the door. This detector is composed of a reed switch, and is made to correspond to a permanent magnet attached to the lever through a magnetically permeable film.

JP 2006-308167 A

  However, in the refrigerator of Patent Document 1, a handle is supported so as to be pivotable back and forth, and a reed switch that is a detector is operated by pressing a lever receiving portion of an operation responsive mechanism at the upper rear end of the handle. For this reason, the drawer door is assisted by pulling the drawer-type door by hand and force is applied to the arm or finger, and there is a possibility that the arm or finger may be shocked and feel uncomfortable. In recent years, the number of users wearing rings and false nails has increased, and there is a risk of damaging them, or being surprised and pulling their hands to damage the door plate due to the operation of the electromagnetic device. It was. Furthermore, there is a possibility that operation cannot be performed even if a service dog or the like holds the hand on the handle.

  The objective of this invention is providing the refrigerator which can aim at the improvement of operativity at the time of opening operation of a door.

To achieve the foregoing objects, the present invention includes: a refrigerator body having a storage compartment, a drawer-type door for opening and closing the front opening of the front Symbol storage compartment, a door driving device for driving to open the door, A switch main body installed on the front surface of the refrigerator main body located behind the upper side of the door and outputting an operation command to a drive source of the door driving device, and installed on the upper side of the door and the switch main body in refrigerator having a switch operating portion for operating said door is provided with an end piece constituting the upper portion, the end piece has a recessed portion provided in a central portion of the upper surface of the end piece, the said recess A correspondingly provided handle portion, the switch operating portion being formed as a member separate from the handle portion of the end piece and arranged to slide back and forth, and the end Is housed in the recessed portion of the piece to expand the movement of the push button and a larger mechanism for operating the switch body, said door driving device includes a drive mechanism having a rotary drive unit, with the rotary drive unit A rotating member provided with a plurality of power transmission units at a position that is rotationally driven and gradually changes the distance from the rotation center toward the rotation direction, and the power is transmitted from the power transmission unit and abuts the rotating member to And a connecting member that moves in the opening direction together with the door. The connecting member has a plurality of receiving surfaces, and the power of the power transmission unit is transmitted by the receiving surfaces .

A more preferable specific configuration example of the present invention is as follows.
(1) The push button is composed of a horizontally long plate-like member, and the enlargement mechanism is formed by two integrally formed push portions located on the left and right sides of the push button , and opposed to these push portions. And two enlarged arms that are provided to contact each other and intersect at an intermediate portion, a torsion spring that returns the enlarged arms, and an output lever that operates the switch body. The output lever is attached to the fulcrum side end, and the engaging portion of the other enlarged arm is slidably attached to the engaging portion provided in the middle of the one enlarged arm, and the one enlarged by the torsion spring. The arm is pressed toward the handle portion side, and the two pushing portions are brought into contact between the fulcrum of the two enlarged arms and the engaging portion between the enlarged arms.
(2) The thickness in the front-rear direction of the front portion of the handle portion is 8 to 12 mm, and the push button is installed to slide back and forth within the thickness of the handle portion.
(3) The lateral width of the handle portion is set to 150 mm to 200 mm, and the lateral width of the push button is substantially matched to the lateral width of the handle portion.

  According to the refrigerator of the present invention, it is possible to improve the operability when opening the door.

  Hereinafter, the refrigerator of one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated based on drawing.

  First, the whole structure of a refrigerator is demonstrated, referring FIG.1 and FIG.2. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG.

  The refrigerator main body 1 has a plurality of storage rooms 2 to 6. The uppermost part of the refrigerator main body 1 is a refrigerator compartment 2, and the door 2a is, for example, a so-called French door that opens to the left and right sides. The lower side of the refrigerator compartment 2 is a storage room divided into right and left, for example, one of which is a function switching room 3, and the other is an accumulator that takes out ice produced by an automatic ice making device (not shown). It is an ice making room 4. Draw-out type doors 3a and 4a for opening and closing the front opening of the function switching chamber 3 and the ice making chamber 4 are installed. Further, the lower part is a freezing room 5 provided with a drawer door 5a that can be pulled out and opened to the front, and the lowermost stage is a vegetable room 6 provided with a drawer door 6a. The door 2a of the refrigerator compartment 2 is provided with an operation display unit 7, and the operation display unit 7 is provided with an open switch 8 for driving the door driving device 10 to open. The open switch 8 includes an open switch 8a for the freezer compartment and an open switch 8b for the vegetable compartment.

  Next, the door drive device 10 in the freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, since the door drive device in the vegetable compartment 6 is the same as the door drive device 10 in the freezer compartment 5, the overlapping description is omitted.

The door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is provided with a container 12 for storing food on the back surface, and the container 12 is supported by a slide rail 11 so that it can be pulled out to the front. On the back side of the slide rail 11, there is provided a closer 13 which is a closing urging means for drawing the freezer compartment 5 in the closing direction. When closing the freezer compartment 5 once opened, the closer 13 gives a force of pulling inward by the force of a spring (not shown) when the opening amount becomes 50 mm or less, and assists the operation of closing the freezer compartment 5 to freezing. The door is closed until the magnet packing 14 provided on the entire circumference of the chamber 5 adsorbs to the refrigerator body 1.

  A door driving device 10 is provided in the freezer compartment 5. The door driving device 10 includes a motor 24 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) that is a driving source fixedly provided on the refrigerator body 1 side, and speed reduction mechanisms 25 to 30 that reduce the rotation of the motor 24 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). 5), and a connecting plate 16 that is a connecting member provided on the lower back surface of the container 12 that is opened and closed together with the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5. The door drive device 10 is configured to open and close the freezer compartment 5 by applying a force from the drive mechanism 15 to the connecting plate 16 in the moving direction of the slide rail 11. Detailed configurations and functions of the drive mechanism 15 and the connecting plate 16 will be described later.

  A door detection means 17 is provided on the front side of the freezer compartment 5, and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed, or the opening amount of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is a predetermined amount of about 30 mm (described later). Then, it is detected whether or not it is within the opening amount 35) that is the closing drive amount, and the signal is sent to the control device described later.

  Next, the structure of the door drive device 10 provided with the drive mechanism 15 and the connecting plate 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a plan view of the door drive device 10 including the drive mechanism 15 and the connecting plate 16 as seen from above in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of the drive mechanism 15 from above, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of 15 from the downward direction.

  In the drive mechanism 15, a rotary plate 19 that is a rotary drive body is rotatably supported around a drive shaft 18 that is a rotary output shaft, and the rotary plate 19 includes a drive pin 20 that is a drive transmission unit. It has been. In the present embodiment, three drive pins 20 are provided, and according to the distance from the drive shaft 18, the first drive pin 20a is at a distance r1, the second drive pin 20b is at a distance r2, and the distance is r3. A third drive pin 20c is provided. Each drive pin 20 has a cylindrical shape. The center axis of the drive pin 20 is parallel to the rotation center axis of the drive shaft 18. Here, r1 <r2 <r3. In the present embodiment, the rotating plate 19 rotates in the arrow CCW direction when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened.

Since the connecting plate 16 is provided on the drawer door of the freezer compartment 5 as described above, the connecting plate 16 is movable along the slide rail 11 in the direction of the arrow 23. In FIG. 3, the left direction in the drawing is the front side of the refrigerator, and the door 5 a of the freezer compartment 5 opens when the connecting plate 16 moves in the left direction. The consolidated plate 16, the second receiving surface 21b of the first receiving surface 21a of the first drive pin 20a is in contact when opening the freezer compartment 5, the second drive pin 20b in contact, the third drive pin And a third receiving surface 21c with which 20c contacts. A detailed description of the operation of the drive pin 20 and the receiving surface 21 will be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a motor pinion 25 is provided on the rotating shaft of the motor 24 and meshes with the idler 26 to be decelerated. The idler 26 and the idler pinion 27 rotate together, and the idler pinion 27 meshes with the idler 28. The idler 28 and the idler pinion 29 rotate together, and the idler pinion 29 meshes with the drive gear 30 and is decelerated. The drive shaft 18 and the drive gear 30 are connected.

  With such a gear configuration, the rotational speed of the motor 24 is reduced to about 1/100, for example, and the rotating plate 19 provided on the drive shaft 18 is rotated. In the present embodiment, torque limiting means 31 is provided between the idler 28 and the idler pinion 29. When an excessive external force is applied to the rotating plate 19, the torque limiting means 31 operates and the idler 28 and the idler pinion 29 slide with each other, so that the drive mechanism 15 can be prevented from being damaged. Further, the drive shaft 18 is provided with a rotation detection means 32 so that the rotational position of the drive shaft 18 can be detected. An example of such rotation detection means 32 is a variable resistor whose resistance value changes with the rotation of the shaft.

  Next, the operation when the door drive device 10 opens the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a view showing an operation when the door driving device 10 opens the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, and (a) shows a state where the freezer compartment 5 is closed as in FIG. b) The operation | movement which open | releases the freezer compartment 5 by operating in order of (c) (d) (e) is shown.

  The rotating plate 19 is rotatable around the drive shaft 18, the connecting plate 16 is supported so as to be movable in the horizontal direction in the figure, and the connecting plate 16 is provided in the freezer compartment 5. The movement to the left indicates the opening operation of the freezer compartment 5. Here, a reference line indicating the position of the illustrated left end of the connecting plate 16 in a state where the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed is represented as a drawing position 34.

  In the state of FIG. 6B in which the rotating plate 19 rotates in the arrow CCW direction and the first drive pin 20a is in contact with the first receiving surface 21a, a force in the arrow 23a direction is generated on the connecting plate 16. At this time, since the first drive pin 20a is located at a distance r1 from the drive shaft 18, the force transmitted from the first drive pin 20a to the connecting plate 16 is T if the torque applied to the drive shaft 18 is T. T / r1. This force is greater than the combined force of the force that peels off the magnet packing of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, the pull-in force of the closer 13 and the force that moves the weight of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and the mass of the stored food. It is set to be large. Thereby, the adsorption of the magnet packing is peeled off, the connecting plate 16 moves in the left direction in the drawing together with the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 starts to open.

  Further, in the state of FIG. 6C in which the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the CCW direction, the second driving pin 20b is in contact with the second receiving surface 21b, and the first driving pin 20a is separated from the first receiving surface 21a. Get away. That is, the second drive pin 20b is located at a distance r2 from the drive shaft 18 and r2> r1, and the second drive pin 20b is the center of rotation rather than the first drive pin 20a. The distance from the drive shaft 18 is long. For this reason, after the second drive pin 20b comes into contact with the second receiving surface 21b, the first drive pin 20a is separated from the first receiving surface 21a. The peripheral speed of rotation of the second drive pin 20b is faster than that of the first drive pin 20a.

  In the state of FIG. 6C, the second drive pin 20b is in contact with the second receiving surface 21b and applies a force indicated by an arrow 23b. At this time, since the second drive pin 20b is located at the distance r2 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18, the force transmitted from the second drive pin 20b to the connecting plate 16 via the second receiving surface 21b. Is T / r 2, where T is the torque applied to the drive shaft 18. This force is smaller than the force applied to the connecting plate 16 by the first drive pin 20a in the direction of the arrow 23a in the state shown in FIG. 6B. However, since the magnet packing has already been peeled off, the force applied at this time is the combined force of the pulling force by the closer 13 and the force that further moves the weight of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and the mass of the stored food. Can be set to be larger. In this way, the connecting plate 16 moves further in the left direction in the drawing together with the door of the freezer compartment 5 and continues the opening operation of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5.

  Further, in the state of FIG. 6D in which the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the CCW direction, the third driving pin 20c is in contact with the third receiving surface 21c, and the second driving pin 20b is from the second receiving surface 21b. Get away. That is, the third drive pin 20c is located at a distance r3 from the drive shaft 18 and r3> r2, and the third drive pin 20c is the center of rotation rather than the second drive pin 20b. The distance from the drive shaft 18 is long. Therefore, after the third drive pin 20c comes into contact with the third receiving surface 21c, the second drive pin 20b separates from the second receiving surface 21b. The peripheral speed of rotation of the third drive pin 20c is faster than that of the second drive pin 20b.

  In the state of FIG. 6D, the third driving pin 20c is in contact with the third receiving surface 21c and applies a force indicated by an arrow 23c. At this time, since the third drive pin 20c is located at the distance r3 shown in FIG. 3 from the drive shaft 18, the force transmitted from the third drive pin 20c to the connecting plate 16 via the third receiving surface 21c. Is T / r3, where T is the torque applied to the drive shaft 18. This force is further smaller than the force applied to the connecting plate 16 by the second drive pin 20b in the direction of the arrow 23b in the state of FIG. 6C. However, since the door 5a of the freezer 5 has already been opened and moved in the direction of the arrow 23c, the door 5a of the freezer 5 has a momentum according to its own weight and speed including the container and the stored food. Therefore, the opening operation can be further continued against the pulling force by the closer 13 by the momentum and the force transmitted from the third driving pin 20c to the third receiving surface 21c of the connecting plate 16.

  Further, in the state of FIG. 6E in which the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the CCW direction, the third driving pin 20c is in a state of being substantially separated from the third receiving surface 21c. The range of the movement amount 33 of the connecting plate 16 from the state of FIG. 6A to the state of FIG. 6E is an open drive range in which the connecting plate 16 receives a force from the drive pin 20. become. Here, it is preferable that the amount of movement 33 of the connecting plate 16 is set to be larger than the closing urging range that is the amount of drawing by the closer 13. That is, if the retracting stroke by the closer, which is the closing urging range, is 40 mm and the moving amount 33 of the connecting plate 16 is 50 mm, the connecting plate 16 stops at the position shown in FIG. This is because even if the door 5a of the chamber 5 stops, the door 5a of the freezing chamber 5 just opened by the closer 13 is not closed.

  However, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened more than the state of FIG. 6 (e) and the connecting plate 16 moves to the left in the drawing, the connecting plate 16 does not receive the driving force from the drive pin 20, but the freezer compartment. Since the door 5a has a speed in the direction of the arrow 23d, the opening operation is continued until the door 5a is gradually decelerated by the friction load of the slide rail 11 and stopped. Since it operates in this way, the opening amount of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 becomes larger than the moving amount 33 of the connecting plate 16.

  As described above, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5a is opened, the driving force in the opening direction is not continuously applied, but the driving force is applied only in a short range of opening, and thereafter, the moving speed obtained in the driving force range is obtained. Can be stopped while being gradually decelerated by the frictional force of the slide rail, so that when the user stands immediately before the door 5a of the freezer room 5 or when an object is placed, the freezer room Even if the door 5a is hit, the driving force by the door driving device 10 in the opening direction is not applied, so that it is safe.

  As described above, when opening the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 from the closed state, the first drive pin 20a disposed closest to the drive shaft 18 pushes and drives the connecting plate 16, Although it is a low speed, it exerts a large force to peel off the magnet packing, and then the second drive pin 20b provided farther than the first drive pin 20a pushes the connecting plate 16 and is moderate at a medium speed. By driving with force, the opening operation is continued against the pulling force of the closer 13 and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is accelerated, and subsequently further away from the drive shaft 18 than the second drive pin 20b. The third driving pin 20c provided pushes the connecting plate 16 and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 can be further accelerated by driving at a high speed although the force is small, so that the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened. Action Can be performed and quickly and reliably by using the motor 24 of the driving torque is.

  In the configuration of the present embodiment, the position where the driving pin 20 contacts the connecting plate 16 and applies the driving force is substantially perpendicular to the opening direction 23 of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 when viewed from the driving shaft 18. The speed 23 of the drive pin 20 is proportional to the rotational speed of the rotary plate 19 and the length of the arm up to the drive pin 20. As a result, it is easy to increase the speed 23 for pushing out the door 5a as compared to a structure in which the door is pushed only by a change in radius to the contact point between the cam and the door using a rotating cam. With the configuration of the present embodiment, a driving force is applied only in a short range at the beginning of opening, and thereafter, the opening speed 23 obtained in the driving force range of the door driving device 10 stops while being gradually decelerated by the frictional force of the slide rail. It is preferable because the operation can be realized.

  After the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened by this operation, the rotating plate 19 further continues to rotate in the CCW direction, reaches the state shown in FIG. 6A, and stops rotating. At this time, the connecting plate 16 is not at the position shown in FIG. 6A, and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is open, and thus is moved to the left in the drawing.

  In the door drive device 10 according to the present embodiment, after the rotating plate 19 performs the opening operation of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and continues to rotate in the same direction for one rotation, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is moved. It is possible to return to the closed state, that is, the origin range 40 described (see FIG. 8). Thereby, the rotating plate 19 can be returned to the origin range 40 at high speed. Temporarily, the rotating plate 19 is not rotated in one direction, but once the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened, the rotating plate 19 stops once and then rotates in the opposite direction, and then returns to the origin range 40. Then, it takes extra time to return to the origin range 40 as compared with the configuration in which the rotation returns to the origin range 40 by rotation in one direction as in the present embodiment.

  Next, the opening amount when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened by the door driving device 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the speed of the freezer compartment and the opening amount when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened.

  With the opening operation of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 described with reference to FIG. 6, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 applies a force in the opening direction from the drive pin 20 through the push surface 21 by the door driving device 10 within the range of the movement amount 33. Given and opened. Here, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 has the speed V at the position 5 ′ opened by the movement amount 33, and therefore continues to open due to inertia, and further gradually decelerates without driving force during the inertia opening amount 74, and finally. Open up to position 5 ″ with maximum opening 73 and stop.

Here, if the total mass of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 including the contained food is m, the kinetic energy E at the position of the movement amount 33 is expressed by the following (Equation 1).
E = (m × V ^ 2) / 2 (Formula 1)
Here, if the friction coefficient of the slide rail 11 is μ and the gravitational acceleration is g, the frictional force F generated by the slide rail 11 is expressed by the following (Equation 2).
F = μ × m × g (Formula 2)
Since the energy E2 consumed by the frictional force corresponds to the product of the frictional force F and the distance L moved while receiving the friction, that is, the inertia opening amount 74, the energy E2 is expressed by the following (Equation 3).
E2 = L × F = L × μ × m × g (Formula 3)
Here, if all of the kinetic energy E held by the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is consumed by friction before stopping, E = E2, and the following (Expression 4) holds.
(M × V ^ 2) / 2 = L × μ × m × g (Formula 4)
By dividing both sides of (Expression 4) by m, the following (Expression 5) is derived.
(V ^ 2) / 2 = L × μ × g (Formula 5)
By transforming (Equation 5), the inertia opening amount 74 (that is, L) is expressed by the following (Equation 6).
L = (V ^ 2) / (2 × μ × g) (Formula 6)
That is, according to (Equation 6), the inertia opening amount 74 (that is, L) is irrelevant to the mass m of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, and the friction coefficient μ of the slide rail and the speed V at the time of the movement amount 33, that is, driving It can be seen that the pin 20 and the pressing surface 21 are separated from each other, and the driving force in the opening direction transmitted from the rotating plate 19 to the connecting plate 16 disappears and depends only on the speed at the time of starting to open by inertia.

  Here, although the mass m of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 varies depending on the amount of food stored, the maximum opening 73 when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is electrically opened is substantially constant regardless of the amount of food. It is desirable to be. That is, since the frictional resistance μ of the slide rail 11 is a constant value determined by the slide rail 11, it is desirable to reduce the fluctuation of the speed V due to the amount of food in order to make the maximum opening 73 substantially constant. Therefore, it is desirable that the speed reduction ratio of the drive mechanism 15 be sufficiently large to reduce the fluctuation of the load torque applied to the motor 24 to reduce the fluctuation of the rotational speed. For example, it is desirable that the reduction ratio is 1/100 or more. By increasing the reduction ratio, the output torque by the motor 24 has a margin, so that the fluctuation of the rotational speed of the motor 24 due to the amount of food can be reduced, and the maximum opening amount 73 due to the amount of food can be reduced. This is preferable because the fluctuation can be reduced.

  The speed V when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened by the movement amount 33 and moved by inertia is the speed at which the third drive pin 20c moves in the opening direction 23d as described with reference to FIG. It is. Therefore, the speed V is proportional to the rotational speed of the rotating plate 19 and is a radius of rotation r that is the distance between the contact 75 c between the third drive pin 21 c and the third push surface 21 c and the rotation center of the drive shaft 18. Is proportional to Here, as shown in FIGS. 6C to 6D, the position of the contact 75c (75d in FIG. 6D) opens when the drive shaft 18 that is the center of rotation is used as a reference. The third drive pin 20c rotates around the drive shaft 18 at a speed that the connecting plate 16 moves in the opening direction 23 because it is located in the upper part of the figure, which is a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction 23. It becomes substantially equal to the circumferential speed which is the speed in the circumferential direction.

  Next, the opening speed in a configuration using a conventionally known cam will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 13, a cam 76 is pivotally supported around a rotation center 77 in a direction of rotation 80 and has a flat plate shape with an outer periphery 78 eccentric. A cam receiving plate 79 is provided in contact with the outer periphery 78 of the cam 76, and the cam receiving plate 79 is provided on the door 5 a of the freezer compartment 5. When the cam 76 rotates in the rotation direction 80, the cam receiving plate 79 is pushed and moved in the direction of the arrow 81, so the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 moves to the left in the drawing together with the cam receiving plate 79 and opens.

  At this time, when the cam 76 is at a position 76 ′ indicated by a one-dot chain line, the cam receiving plate 79 ′ is in contact with the contact 86. When the peripheral speed of the contact 86 at this time is represented by an arrow 83, the speed at which the cam receiving plate 79 ′ moves in the opening direction on the left side of the figure is the amount of the arrow 84 that is a projection component of the peripheral speed arrow 83 in the opening direction. The cam 76 and the cam plate 79 are slipped by the arrow 85 which is a projection component in the direction orthogonal to the opening direction. In this way, the speed in the opening direction in the case of the configuration using the cam is only a change in the radius of the contact point between the cam 76 and the cam receiving plate 79 generated by the rotation of the cam 76. Is less than the peripheral speed of the cam 76, and slip occurs between the cam 76 and the cam receiving plate 79, so that the cam 76 and the cam receiving plate 79 are worn and rubbed. Problems are likely to occur.

  Further, the cam 76 'rotates to reach 76 "indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the cam 76" moves away from the cam receiving plate 79 "from the state in contact with the cam receiving plate 79". In addition, in the structure using the cam shown in FIG. 13, it is a function only to push the door to the left, and there is no function to close the door.

  When the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is not closed until the magnet packing 14 is adsorbed for some reason, so that a gap is formed between the magnet packing 14 and the refrigerator body 1. May be in a half-door state. The operation of the door drive device 10 when the door is in the half door state will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation when the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment closes the door 5 a of the freezer compartment 5.

  FIG. 7A shows a state in which the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is not closed, and the illustrated left end of the connecting plate 16 has moved by an opening amount 35 that allows the closing operation to be performed from the retracted position 34. . Usually, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is pulled in and closed by the pulling force generated by the closer 13, but a part of the food is caught or the operation of the slide rail 11 becomes temporarily awkward for some reason. , It may not be pulled in.

  Here, when the rotary plate 19 is rotated around the drive shaft 18 in the direction of the arrow CW, the third drive pin 20c comes into contact with the return surface 22 on the left side in the figure facing the receiving surface 21 of the connecting plate 16. FIG. 7B shows a state in which the rotating plate 19 is further rotated in the direction of arrow CW, but the connecting plate 16 is pushed and moved in the direction of arrow 36 by the third drive pin 20c, so that the connecting plate 16 The left end of the figure moves to the retracted position 34. The position shown in FIG. 7B indicates that the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed until the magnet packing 14 is attracted to the refrigerator body 1.

Thereafter, the rotating plate 19 rotates in the arrow CCW direction becomes the state of FIG. 7 (c), the stop is rotated to the same position as shown in FIG.

  By performing such an operation, even if the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed and is in a so-called half-door state, the rotating plate 19 rotates in the opposite direction to the case where the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened. By doing so, it is possible to close the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 by applying a force in the direction of closing the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 to the connecting plate 16, so that half doors can be prevented.

  As described above, the force for opening the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 requires more than the total of the force for peeling off the magnet packing 14 and the pulling force of the closer 13, but when closing the magnet packing A force for peeling 14 is unnecessary, and a pulling force by the closer 13 is generated. Therefore, a closing force applied by the door driving device 10 is sufficient as a closing force compared to an opening force. According to the present embodiment, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the third drive pin 20c farthest from the drive shaft 18 pushes the return surface 22 of the connecting plate 16, so that the drive shaft 18 is added. Even if the driving torque is the same as that at the time of opening, it is preferable because the closing force is smaller by r1 / r3 than the opening force. This means that even when a finger or the like is sandwiched between the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and the refrigerator main body 1, the clamping force is small, so the safety is high.

  Note that it is safer to perform the closing operation slowly at a lower closing speed. Therefore, it is desirable to make the closing operation slower than the operation of opening the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5.

  Here, the closing drive range that is the opening amount 35 that can close the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The opening amount 35 is desirably smaller than the door thickness 71 that is the thickness of the door 5a that forms the front surface of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5. This is because if the opening amount 35 is larger than the door thickness 71, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is started to be retracted, the door 5a between the freezer compartment 5 and the door of the vegetable compartment 6 or the switching compartment 3 is used. There is a risk that a finger or the like may be caught in the generated inter-door gap 72. However, if the opening amount 35 is set to be smaller than the door thickness 71, there is no possibility that a finger or the like is pinched, so that safety can be further improved.

  Next, the suitable position of the rotating plate 19 when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 8, the connecting plate 16 illustrated by a solid line is in the position where the left end of the connecting plate 16 matches the drawing position 34 and the door 5 a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed. Even if the refrigerator is provided with the door drive device 10 as in the present embodiment, the user may pull out the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 by hand. Alternatively, when the door driving device 10 does not operate due to a failure, it is desirable that the user can manually open and close it freely. When manually opening and closing in this way, the door drive device 10 is configured to prevent a phenomenon such as a manual operation by the user being interrupted or a heavy operation when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened or closed. It is desirable that

  If the user manually pulls out and opens the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 from the state in which the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed, the connecting plate 16 provided on the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 moves to the left side in the figure. Thus, the position becomes a broken line. In the position of the alternate long and short dash line, 'is added to each symbol.

  Here, the rotary plate 19 is in the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 8, and the second tip 37b, which is the tip of the second receiving surface 21b provided on the connecting plate 16 at that position, and the first drive pin 20a. If the second plate 37b and the first drive pin 20a are not in contact with each other when the connecting plate 16 moves to the left in the figure, the user manually freezes Since the connecting plate 16 and the drive pin 20 do not come into contact with each other when the door 5a of the chamber 5 is pulled out, the door 5a of the freezer chamber 5 can be freely pulled out and opened.

  Further, the rotary plate 19 is at a broken line position 19 ′, and there is a gap 39 between the first tip 37a provided on the connecting plate 16 and the third drive pin 20c at that position, so that the connecting plate 16 If the first tip 37a and the third drive pin 20c ′ are in a positional relationship that does not contact when moving to the left in the figure, when the user manually pulls out the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, the connecting plate 16 And the drive pin 20 are not in contact with each other, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 can be freely pulled out and opened.

In order for the connecting plate 16 and the drive pin 20 not to contact when the user manually opens and closes the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, the line connecting the drive shaft 18 and the first drive pin 20a is in the origin range 40. It suffices to be within the angle range. Therefore, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed, it is desirable to set the rotary plate 19 so as to be in the origin range 40, and it is easy to use when manually opening and closing.
Such an angle range of the rotating plate 19 is referred to as being in the origin range 40.

  Next, the configuration of a control system for controlling the door driving device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system.

  When the user presses the open switches 8 a and 8 b provided in the operation display unit 7, a signal is sent to the control board 41. The motor 24 of the drive mechanism 15 provided in the freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6, the rotation detection means 32 for detecting the rotational position of the drive shaft 18, and the door detection means 17 for detecting the open / closed state of the door are controlled. It is connected to the substrate 41.

  The switch main body 92 is a switch main body of an open switch provided on the freezer compartment side and the vegetable compartment side separately from the open switches 8a and 8b, and a switch main body of a switch for operating the door driving device 10. The switch body 92 is operated by a switch operation unit provided on the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and the door 6a of the vegetable compartment 6. The switch operation unit is operated by the user. Details of these will be described later.

  Electric power necessary for driving the door driving device 10 and the control device 41 is supplied from a power source 42. The rotation detection means 32 includes detection means such as a variable resistor whose resistance value changes according to the rotation of the shaft and a microswitch that detects a predetermined rotation position of the shaft.

  The door detection means 17 includes a first door detection means 17a for detecting whether or not the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed, and the opening amount of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is a predetermined opening amount 35 or less. It comprises second door detection means 17b for detecting whether or not there is. This door detection means 17 may be comprised with the magnet with which the door was equipped, and the Hall element with which the refrigerator main body 1 was equipped, or may be detection means, such as a microswitch.

  The operation display unit 7 is provided with notifying means 70 for notifying the user that the door is in a half-door state. This notification means 70 sounds a buzzer or lights or blinks a lamp.

  Next, the procedure of opening control when opening the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for opening control when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened.

  When the opening operation is started (step 43), the control device 41 monitors the state of the rotation detecting means 32 and detects whether or not the rotating plate 19 of the drive mechanism 15 is in the origin range 40 where the operation starts (step 43). 44). Here, the origin range 40 is a range in which the connecting plate 16 does not interfere with the drive pin 20 even when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is manually opened and closed as described with reference to FIG. Tell the state.

  If the rotating plate 19 is not in the origin range 40, the motor 24 is energized (step 45), and the rotating plate 19 is rotated so as to be in the origin range 40. Whether the motor 24 is rotated in the CW direction or the CCW direction is determined based on a signal from the rotation detection unit 32 by controlling which direction the rotating plate 19 is displaced with respect to the origin range 40. The device 41 determines and determines the direction in which the drive voltage is applied to the motor 24.

  When it is detected that the rotary plate 19 is in the origin range 40 and the control device 41 detects that the open switch 8 has been operated by the user, the motor 24 is energized to rotate the rotary plate 19 (step) 47). The rotating direction of the rotating plate 19 at this time is the arrow CCW direction in FIG. 3, and when the rotating plate 19 rotates, the connecting plate 16 is pushed by the drive pin 20 as described in FIG. 5 door 5a opens.

  When it is confirmed that the motor 24 continues to rotate and the rotational position of the rotating plate 19 detected by the rotation detecting means 32 has entered the origin range 40 (step 48), the motor is stopped (step 49), The opening operation is terminated (step 50).

  Here, how to apply a voltage when energizing the motor in Step 47 and starting to open the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 will be described. When the rated voltage is suddenly applied when the motor is energized, an inrush current flows in the motor coil, and the motor starts to rotate rapidly from a stopped state with a maximum output torque. Therefore, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 starts to open, maximum acceleration is performed, and the opening operation starts sharply and vigorously.

  Therefore, when the motor 24 is energized, the rated voltage is not applied sharply, but at the beginning of energization, for example, a low voltage of about ½ of the rated voltage is applied, and after the door driving device 10 starts driving, The voltage is gradually increased as the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened. In the opening operation shown in FIG. 6, until the speed in the opening direction 23 transmitted from the drive pin 20 to the connecting plate 16 reaches the maximum in the state of FIG. 6C to FIG. 6D. It is desirable to carry out energization to change the voltage so as to reach the rated voltage by increasing the voltage continuously or intermittently. By gradually increasing the voltage in such a manner, the operation when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 starts to open becomes slow, so that it can be safely opened without being vigorously opened.

  Furthermore, after passing the state of FIG. 6 (e), the rotating plate 19 continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow CCW and stops after rotating to the position shown in FIG. 6 (a). After the fifth door 5a is opened, the rotating plate 19 is idled without being loaded. Therefore, after passing the state of FIG. 6 (e), the voltage applied to the motor 24 may be made lower than the rated voltage, and the rotational speed of the motor 24 may be made low. By reducing the rotation of the motor 24 as described above, there is an effect that noise and vibration generated from the motor 24 can be reduced and a quiet operation can be realized. Further, it is desirable to reliably stop the rotating plate 19 within the origin range 40 described with reference to FIG. 8. However, since the motor 24 does not go too far when stopped by rotating at a low speed, the stopping accuracy is improved, which is preferable. .

  Next, an opening switch that allows the user to give an opening instruction to the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22. FIG. 21 is a partial cross-sectional view of a refrigerator provided with the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of the S part shown in FIG. S part has shown the vicinity of the frame 87 of the refrigerator main body 1 which contact | abuts the door 5a which comprises the front surface of the freezer compartment 5, and the door when the door is closed. 21 and 22 are schematically shown for ease of explanation, and details thereof will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  A push button 115 is provided at the upper end of the door 5 a, and an output lever 118 is provided at the back of the push button 115. The push button 115 and the output lever 118 are slidably supported. Although an enlargement mechanism is interposed between the push button 115 and the output lever 118, it is omitted in FIG. The return force generated by the return spring 122 is transmitted to the push button 115 and the output lever 118 through the enlargement mechanism.

On the side in contact with the door 5a of the frame 87, Ri Contact with the switch body 92 of the microswitch is provided, the wiring 94 leading to the control device 41 from the switch body 92 provided inside the frame body 87 is provided .

  When the user presses the push button 115 by hand, as shown in FIG. 22B, the push button 115 can be moved to the right side in the figure by the push amount 91. By the movement of the push button 115, the output lever 118 is moved through the enlargement mechanism. As a result, the output lever 118 pushes the plunger 93 provided in the switch body 92 to close a contact (not shown) provided in the switch body 92, thereby transmitting a signal that the user has pressed the push button 115 to the control device 41. can do.

  When the user releases the push button 115, the push button 115 and the output lever 118 are returned to the state shown in FIG. 22A by the force generated by the return spring 122. As a result, the plunger 93 returns and the contact inside the switch body 92 returns to the opened state.

  By adopting such a configuration, the switch body 92 and the wiring 94 for connecting the switch body 92 to the control device 41 can be provided only inside the frame body 87 on the body side. There is an effect that it is not necessary to provide.

  In addition, if the switch main body 92 is provided in the door 5a unlike the said structure, the wiring 94 must be drawn from the door 5a to the main body 1 and connected to the control apparatus 41. Since the door 5a is configured to open and close as a drawer, the wiring 94 needs to be in a slack state with an extra length larger than the maximum opening of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed. . In this configuration, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is pulled out, it is necessary to pull out the slack wiring 94 together. However, the wiring 94 may be tangled or caught by something when opening and closing.

  Further, when viewed from the user, when the push button 115 is pushed, a force in a direction to close the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 to the back side is applied. Assuming that the motor 24 is energized from the control device 41 as soon as the user pushes the push button 115 and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is electrically operated to open in the direction of the arrow 23, the freezer compartment 5 is immediately opened. The door 5a starts to open in a direction opposite to the direction in which the user is applying a force, that is, in front of the user, so it feels unnatural for the user.

  On the other hand, when the user presses the push button 115, the motor 24 is not energized, and when the user releases the hand from the push button 115 once pressed, the motor 24 is energized. The door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 opens toward the front in association with the action of releasing the hand from 115 and pulling the hand forward, so that the direction of movement of the user's hand and the direction of movement (opening) of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 Are the same, and there is no sense of discomfort with respect to the operation as seen from the user, and a natural operation feeling can be obtained.

  In such an operation, the motor 24 is energized at the timing when the control device 41 detects that the user has released his / her hand from the push button 115 and has returned to the state in which the contacts inside the switch body 92 are opened, and the freezer compartment 5 This can be realized if the door 5a is electrically opened.

  Next, the configuration when the switch configuration described in FIGS. 21 to 22 is mounted on the drawer door will be described with reference to FIGS. 23 to 26, the freezer compartment 5 will be described, but the vegetable compartment 6 has the same configuration, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 23, the door 5a is a drawer door of the freezer compartment 5, and is provided with end pieces 110 and 111 on the upper side and the lower side of the iron plate (outer plate 109) bent in a U-shape. The upper end piece 110 includes a handle 112 that extends downward on the front surface. The door 5a is a heat insulating door by filling a space formed by the outer plate 109, upper and lower end pieces 110 and 111, and an inner plate (not shown) with a foam heat insulating material and a vacuum heat insulating material. It is.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 23, the handle 112 of the door 5a is lowered to the back side of the handle 112 by a recess 113 formed by recessing the outer plate 109 on the heat insulating material side so as not to increase the external dimension of the refrigerator. A space where a finger can be inserted is formed as a handle portion 114. In FIG. 23, it seems that the handle portion 114 is formed to the full width of the door 5a, but this is a design and the place where the hand is actually hooked is about 250 mm in the center (range of the broken line).

  The push button 115 is formed of a thin plate having a plate thickness of about 2.0 mm, and is configured by a member separate from the handle portion 114. The push button 115 is embedded in a thickness 8 to 12 mm in the front-rear direction of the handle portion 114 and is slidable in the front-rear direction. The surface of the push button 115 is substantially flush with the surface of the handle portion 114 in a normal state. In addition, the pushing allowance (about 2 mm) which is the moving distance of the push button 115 in the front-rear direction is also within the wall thickness 8 to 12 mm of the handle portion 114. Further, the width of the push button 115 is 150 mm to 200 mm, and substantially matches the previous handle portion width 200 mm.

  A recess 130 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the end piece 110. The recessed portion 130 corresponds to the handle portion 114 and the push button 115 and is provided with substantially the same lateral width behind the recessed portion 130.

  The enlarging mechanism 116 is housed in the recess 130 of the end piece 110, and operates the switch body 92 by enlarging the movement of the push button 115. The cover plate 117 covers the enlargement mechanism 116 by covering the upper surface opening of the recess 130. Accordingly, the enlargement mechanism 116 is invisible to the user. The push button 115 and the enlargement mechanism 116 constitute a switch operation unit of the switch body 92.

  In FIG. 24, the frame 87 on the refrigerator box 105 side is a partition heat insulating wall that partitions the function switching chamber 3, the ice making chamber 4, and the freezer compartment 5. The door 5a contacts the frame body 87 via the magnet packing 14, and closes the freezer compartment 6 configured on the box body 105 side.

  The switch main body 92 is installed on the front surface portion of the frame body 87 located behind the upper side portion of the door 5a, and is attached to the same surface as the frame body 87. The position where the switch body 92 is attached is opposed to the output lever 118 which is operated when the push button 115 is pressed at a position facing the handle portion 114, and the output switch 118 turns the previous switch on and off. The ON / OFF signal of this switch is transmitted to the control device 41 to operate the motor 24 that is the drive source of the drive mechanism 15.

  The protection member 119 formed integrally with the end piece 110 reduces the size between the frame 87 and the door 5a by crushing the magnet packing 14 when the door is opened and closed, and adversely affects the output lever 118, for example. Is preventing.

  In FIG. 25 to FIG. 26, the enlargement mechanism 116 includes two push portions 120 formed integrally with the push button 115, and two enlargement arms 121 provided so as to face and contact the push portion 120. The torsion spring 122 for returning the expansion arm 121 and the output lever 118 are included. An output lever 118 is attached to the opposite end 123 of the one expanding arm 121a. A locking portion 125 of the other expanding arm 121b is slidably attached to an engaging portion 124 provided in the middle of the expanding arm 121a. The torsion spring 122 presses the enlarged arm 121a toward the handle 112 side.

  The two pushing portions 120 are configured to contact the enlarged arms 121a and 121b between the fulcrums 126 and 127 of the enlarged arms 121a and 121b and the middle of the enlarged arm 121. The auxiliary legs 128 provided on both sides of the back surface of the push button 115 are configured to engage with the guide guide 129 so that the pushing allowance is almost ensured regardless of the position of the push button 115 pressed. That is, the state shown in FIG. 25 is maintained before the push button 115 is pressed, and when the thumb is lightly touched at any position of the wide push button 115, the state is changed to the state shown in FIG. In other words, when the user (including a service dog) touches the push button 115 provided on the handle 114 of the handle 112 lightly and presses about 2.0 mm, the drag of the torsion spring 122 is defeated, and the push portion 120 Presses the enlargement arm 121, and the push allowance enlarged here is transmitted to the output lever 118, and the switch body 92 provided on the body side is turned on and off. As a result, the drive mechanism operates to open the drawer door 5a easily.

  In the present embodiment, the push button 115 having a small push allowance is provided at a position where the thumb on the surface hits, particularly when four fingers other than the thumb are inserted inside the handle portion 114 without enlarging the external dimensions of the refrigerator. A drawer door with a large storage capacity can be easily and electrically pulled out by providing and pushing it lightly with a thumb. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the discomfort at the time of opening the door, damage to the ring, false nail, and damage to the door plate, which has been regarded as a problem, and it is possible to open the drawer door by a service dog or the like. can do.

  Further, according to the enlargement mechanism 116 of the present embodiment, even if the push button 115 has a small allowance, it is enlarged by the enlargement mechanism 116 and the switch main body 92 can be pushed reliably.

  Furthermore, the thickness of the handle portion 114 of the handle 112 is 8 to 12 mm, and the push button and the push dimension (2 to 4 mm) are absorbed within the thickness, so that the handle of the existing drawer door can be used. Of course, the external dimensions and the like of the refrigerator are not increased for the push button installation.

  Furthermore, since the width of the handle portion 115 of the handle 112 is 150 mm to 200 mm and the width of the push button 115 is adjusted to the width of the handle portion 115, it is possible to use the handle of the existing drawer door. However, the effect that the push button can be pushed is obtained.

  Next, a control procedure when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed from a so-called half door state in which the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is not completely closed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure for closing control when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed.

  The operation is started (step 51), the origin range is detected (step 52), and the motor 24 is energized (step 53). The operations are the same as steps 43 to 45 in FIG.

  If the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is detected by the first door detector 17a of the door detector 17 (step 54) and the door 5a is detected, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is not in a half-door state but is closed. Therefore, the door closing operation is completed (step 55). When the first door detection means 17a cannot detect the closing of the door, the second door detection means 17b detects whether the opening amount of the door 5a and the refrigerator body 1 is the opening amount 35 or less (step 56). . When it is detected that the opening amount is 35 or less, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is in an open state with the opening amount 35 or less. If the second door detection means 17b cannot detect the door 5a, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened to an opening amount of 35 or more, and therefore the door 5a can be closed in the door driving device 10 of the present embodiment. Can not. In that case, the alarm means 70 is sounded to notify the user of an alarm that it is a half-door (step 57).

  If the second door detection means 17b can detect the door 5a, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is in a half-door state and is in an area that can be closed by the door driving device 10, so that the motor 24 is energized. (Step 58). The rotation direction at this time is the CW direction in FIG. Further, at this time, the rotational speed of the rotating plate 19 is reduced by reducing the voltage applied to the motor 24 to, for example, about 1/2 to 1/3 of the rated voltage. Accordingly, since the rotating plate 19 rotates in the CW direction at a low speed, it is preferable that the third drive pin 20c does not generate an impact that collides with the third receiving surface 21c of the connecting plate 19.

  By energizing the motor 24 in the CW direction for a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds (step 59), the rotating plate 19 reaches the state shown in FIG. 7B, and the connecting plate 16 is moved in the direction of arrow 36, that is, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5. Is moved in the closing direction, and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed. After a predetermined time has elapsed, this time, the motor 24 is energized so as to rotate in the CCW direction (step 60), and the rotating plate 19 is rotated until it reaches the origin range 40 as shown in FIG. If it is detected by the signal from the rotation detection means 32 that the position is within the origin range 40 (step 61), the rotation of the motor 24 is stopped (step 62). If the first door detecting means 17a detects that the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is closed (step 63), it can be confirmed that the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed. The process is terminated (step 66).

  If the first door detection means 17a cannot detect the closing of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 in step 63, it can be determined that the half-door state continues, so the processing from step 58 to step 63, that is, the motor 24 The operation of rotating the rotating plate 19 in the CW direction and closing the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is repeated a plurality of times (step 64). If it is not possible to detect the closing of the first door detection means 17a after repeating this closing operation a predetermined number of times, for example, three times in Step 64, for example, something is caught and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 cannot be closed. Determination is made and the notification means 70 is sounded to notify the user of an alarm that the door is a half-door (step 65).

  Further, for example, in order to prevent a phenomenon that a child accidentally presses the door opening switch 8 to open the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 and hit the child's body, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 described with reference to FIG. The operation of the open switch may be disabled so as not to perform the opening operation, and the configuration may be configured so that the user can select to perform only the closing operation shown in FIG.

  Although the embodiment in which the three drive pins 20 are provided on the rotating plate 19 has been described, the number of the drive pins 20 is not limited to three, and a form in which four drive pins 20 are provided as shown in FIG. Good. In FIG. 12, the fourth drive pin 20 d is provided on the rotary plate 19 at a position at a distance r4 (> r3) from the drive shaft 18. The coupling plate 16 is provided with a fourth receiving surface 21d on which the fourth drive pin 20d abuts.

  In the operation of opening the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, the same operation as shown in FIG. 6 is performed, and in addition, the fourth drive pin 20d pushes the fourth receiving surface 21d to the left in the drawing, so that the connecting plate The range in which 16 receives the force from the rotating plate 19 is expanded. In addition, since r4> r3, if the rotational speed of the drive shaft 18 is constant, the speed at which the fourth drive pin 20d pushes the fourth receiving surface 21d to the left in the figure is the case where there is no fourth drive pin 20d. It becomes larger by r4 / r3.

  In the example of FIG. 12, since both the range of force and speed are expanded, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened, the opening amount of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is enlarged, and is viewed from the user. The reaction of the opening operation after pressing the opening switch 8 is improved, and a comfortable operation feeling can be obtained.

  Further, when the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the direction of the arrow CW and the connecting plate 16 is moved in the direction of the arrow 36 in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. The pin 20d pushes the fourth receiving surface 22. In this case, since the distance from the drive shaft 18 is greater than the fourth drive pin 21d than the fourth drive pin 21d, the fourth drive pin 21d is larger than the third drive pin 20c, so that even if the opening amount 35 of the connecting plate 16 is increased by r4 / r3, The door 5a can be closed. In this way, the opening amount 35 that can be closed from the half-door state can be increased, so that even if a half-door is generated, the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 can be closed more reliably, energy saving can be realized, and food stored Can be prevented from being deteriorated by the intrusion of outside air.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 14 to FIG. 17, a description will be given of a rotary drive body and a connecting member when the door drive device 10 shown in FIG. 12 is incorporated in a real refrigerator.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the height H dimension of the drive pins 20a and 20d is formed about twice as high as the height dimension of the drive pins 20b and 20c. In other words, the drive pins 20b and 20c have dimensions that do not come into contact with the receiving surfaces 21b and 21c of the connecting plate 16 with which the drive pins 20a and 20d come into contact due to the difference in the contact position in the height direction. As a result, even if an abnormality occurs between the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16, the drive pin 20b is prevented from biting into the receiving surface 21a and the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 are prevented from locking. It is. Similarly, the driving pin 20c is prevented from biting into the receiving surface 21d by the difference in the contact position in the height direction.

  A magnet 95 provided on the rotating plate 19 is used to position the origin of the rotating plate 19 that is rotated by the drive shaft 18. That is, the rotating plate 19 driven by the drive shaft 18 is always stopped at the position shown in FIG. 15 after the rotation as described above, and is not interfered with the connecting plate 16 even when a power failure or the like occurs. The door can be opened and closed manually. For this purpose, it is stopped at the position of the magnet 95 (position shown in Fig. 15 (origin range 40 (see Fig. 8)). In other words, the stop of the drive shaft 18 is controlled by the previous Hall IC. Is.

  The guide guide 96 provided on the base plate 15a forming the drive mechanism 15 is made by providing two projecting pieces 96a and 96b side by side, and the opening on the inlet side is as shown in FIG. Widely formed. This is to make it easier for the sliding portion 16 a of the connecting plate 16 to enter the guide guide 96. That is, since the connecting plate 16 is attached to the drawer door side, the dimensional error on the refrigerator main body side is affected by the assembly error, and the dimensional error on the drawer door side on which the connecting plate 16 is assembled and the assembly error thereof. to be influenced. For this reason, the position of the sliding portion 16a that slides in the previous guide guide 96 often shifts to the left and right. Even if this error exists, the length of the projecting piece is made different so that the previous sliding portion 16a can easily enter the guide guide 96.

  In addition, the projecting piece 96b is provided with two Hall ICs 97 and 98. The Hall ICs 97 and 98 operate by detecting the approach or separation of the magnets 99 and 100 provided on the sliding portion 16a of the connecting plate 16, and stop the drive shaft 18 that drives the rotating plate 19.

  Further, the Hall IC 97 detects whether or not the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is completely closed. The Hall IC 98 detects whether the opening amount of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is a predetermined opening amount (for example, an opening amount of 35 or less) with the magnets 99 and 100 on the connecting plate 16 side. That is, as shown in FIG. 16, when the magnets 99 and 100 are opposed to the Hall IC 97 and the Hall IC 98, the door is completely closed, and when the magnet 99 is positioned between the Hall IC 97 and the Hall IC 98. Is a half-door state.

  Note that the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is normally on standby with the door completely closed. The rotary plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 operate in the same manner as the stroke expansion operation in the four-stage configuration described above with reference to FIG.

  14 to 17 differs from the example shown in FIG. 12 in that only the first drive pin 20a can be brought into contact with the first receiving surface 21a. That is, since the first drive pin 20a and the second drive pin 20b have different height dimensions, the second drive pin 20b does not reach the first receiving surface 21a.

  Another significant difference is that a guide guide 96 is formed, and two Hall ICs 97 and 98 are provided on a projecting piece 96b that forms the guide guide 96. That is, these two Hall ICs 97 and 98 surely perform the opening operation of the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 by the positional relationship with the magnets 99 and 100 provided on the connecting plate 16 side, and the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 Even if it is in a so-called half door state without being completely closed, the rotating plate 19 is rotated in the opposite direction to the case where the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is opened, thereby the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 with respect to the connecting plate 16. Can be closed by applying a force in the closing direction. Accordingly, the half door can be prevented, and the cooling performance can be prevented from being lowered or an energy saving effect can be obtained. The return surface 22 of the connecting plate 16 is pushed in the direction of closing the door by the fourth drive pin 20d as described in FIG. At this time, the return surface 22 is preferably an inclined surface of 45 degrees or less in order to improve the movement of the drive pin 20d.

  The driving device 15 is fixed to the refrigerator main body 1 constituting the freezer compartment 5 with screws or the like. Therefore, when the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is pulled out, the rotating plate 19 remains on the refrigerator body 1 side. On the other hand, the connecting plate 16 attached to the freezer compartment door 5a side is pulled out together with the door 5a. When the door is pulled out, the engagement relationship between the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 is released. In other words, the mounting structure of the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 occupies a very important weight.

  For this reason, in the present embodiment, the base material 15a to which the rotating plate 19 is attached and the guide guide 96 are integrally formed to ensure the dimensions of both, and between the projecting pieces 96a and 96b forming the guide guide 96. The guide groove width dimension is made close to the thickness of the sliding portion 16a on the connecting plate 16 side, for example, to secure the mounting position of both the rotating plate 19 and the connecting plate 16 and stabilize the dimensional relationship.

  Furthermore, the variation in the vertical dimension with respect to the refrigerator main body 1 due to the connection plate 16 being attached to the door side is countered by sufficiently securing the lapping allowance between the projecting pieces 96a and 96b and the sliding portion 16a.

  Next, a state in which the connecting plate 16 and the drive mechanism 15 are incorporated in the refrigerator body 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19A to 19C. FIG. 18 is a top view showing a reinforcing plate structure for attaching the reinforcing plate 102 to which the connecting plate 16 is attached to the door frame 101. In FIG. 18, the freezer compartments 103 and 104 suspended from the door frame 101 are omitted. FIG. 19A is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which the freezer compartments 103 and 104 are attached to the door frame 101 shown in FIG. 18, the freezer compartment door 5a is closed, and the connecting plate 16 and the rotating plate 19 are combined. FIG. 19A is an enlarged view of a portion where the connecting plate 16 and the rotating plate 19 in FIG. 19A are combined, and FIG. 19C is a perspective view of the door frame 101 to which the reinforcing plate 102 is attached.

  A pair of door frames 101 are attached to both inner sides of the freezer compartment 5a. The door frame 101 slides in a groove of a slide rail attached to the side wall 105b of the freezer compartment 5. In the case of a slide rail that pulls the freezer compartments 103 and 104 to the position where they protrude from the freezer compartment 5, one of the slide rails is attached to the side wall 105b and the other is attached to the door frame 101 side. The slide rail is provided with the closer mechanism described above.

  The reinforcing plate 102 is suspended from the door frame 101 and supports the rear portion of the container 103. The reinforcing plate 102 is a thin metal plate (2.0 mm or less) formed into a U shape using a press or the like, and has a width that allows the connecting plate 16 to be fixed with screws 108. By connecting the door frame 101 with the reinforcing plate 102, the door frame 101 can be prevented from being shaken (by cantilever).

  The containers 103 and 104 are attached to the door frame 101 of the freezer compartment door 5a as follows. When the freezer compartment door 5 a is pulled out, the containers 103 and 104 are configured to be drawn out of the freezer compartment 5. That is, a locking portion (not shown) on the container 103, 104 side is positioned by locking in the engagement hole 101a on the door frame 101 side, and the rear end of the container 103 is placed on the reinforcing plate 102. Has been. The U-shape of the reinforcing plate 102 is a shape that supports the rear end portion of the container 103. The container 103 is also positioned by the rising flange 102a of the reinforcing plate 102.

  Thus, the container 104 is mounted on the flange of the container 103 so that the bottom of the container 104 is placed (see FIG. 19A). Accordingly, the container 104 is designed to have a structure that allows the frozen food in the container 103 to be taken out by sliding backward on the flange of the container 103 when the freezer compartment door 5a is pulled out.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 19A, the rear portion of the container 103 is formed with a recessed flat surface portion 107 that is recessed upward. The amount of the depression is a dimension that can absorb the attachment portion of the connecting plate 16 attached to the back side of the reinforcing plate 102. On the other hand, a hollow flat portion 106 that can absorb the attachment portion of the drive mechanism 15 is also formed on the box body 105 side. This position faces the place where the connecting plate 16 is located when the freezer compartment door 5a is closed, and is the position where the connecting plate 16 and the rotating plate 19 described above operate.

  In the present embodiment, the connecting plate 16 is attached to the reinforcing plate 102, and the drive mechanism 15 is provided in the hollow flat portion 106 on the box body 105 side, so that the space between the container 103 and the bottom wall 105a on the box body 105 side is provided. The gap can be minimized. In other words, the internal volume of the container 103 can be increased.

  With the configuration described above, it is possible to position the connecting plate 16 that must enter and exit within a predetermined range with respect to the guide guide 96 of the drive mechanism 15 both vertically and horizontally. That is, the drive mechanism 15 can be mounted within a tolerance in consideration of parts or assembly errors by being fixed with a screw or the like in the hollow flat portion 106 formed in the bottom wall 105a. However, the connecting plate 16 is attached to the drawer door side.

  Since this drawer door 5a suspends the container in which the frozen food enters the cantilever door frame 101, the right-angle parallelism of the door frame 101 to the door 5a is out of order, and the door 5a closes obliquely with respect to the box body 105. It often happened. When the connecting plate 16 is attached in such a state, the connecting plate 16 naturally does not enter the guide guide 96 on the drive mechanism 15 side. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the reinforcing plate 102 is used to prevent the door frame 101 from swinging left and right, and to ensure the perpendicularity of the door frame 101 to the door.

  Further, the bottom of the container 103 is deformed depending on the amount (particularly the weight) of the frozen food to be put in the container 103 (usually this container is made by resin injection molding or the like, and the thickness is about 1 mm). The deformation of the bottom of the container 103 appears as a phenomenon that the bottom of the container 103 is lowered. The reinforcing plate 102 prevents the lowering of the container 103 from being supported from the bottom. The rising flange 102a of the reinforcing plate 102 serves to prevent the container 103 from jumping backward from the door frame due to an impact when the door is opened and closed, and the connecting plate 16 is in a stable state with the guide guide 96 on the drive mechanism 15 side. It also plays a role in ensuring that you enter and exit.

  Next, the operation when the door driving device 10 according to the present embodiment is provided in both the freezer compartment 5 and the vegetable compartment 6 will be described. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the vegetable compartment 6 is in the vicinity of the bottom of the lowermost stage, and the freezer compartment 5 is provided on the upper stage.

  When the user stands in front of the refrigerator and opens the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5, if the door 5a of the freezer compartment 5 is electrically opened, for example, about 15 cm to 20 cm, the freezer Since the inside can be looked over from an opening part, it is suitable. On the other hand, in the vegetable compartment 6, if the vegetable compartment 6 is opened in the same manner as the freezer compartment because the vegetable compartment 6 is in the vicinity of the floor, the lower end of the door 6a of the vegetable compartment 6 may hit the user's toe when opened. . In order to prevent the lower end of the door 6a from hitting the user's toe when the door 6a of the vegetable room 6 is opened, the lower vegetable room 6 is opened when opened compared to the freezer room 5 on the upper stage. For safety reasons, it is desirable to reduce the speed and further reduce the opening amount to within 10 cm, for example.

  In the above description, the vegetable compartment 6 is simply assumed to be below the freezer compartment 5. However, when the freezer compartment is below the vegetable compartment, the opening amount or opening speed of the freezer compartment is set from the vegetable compartment. It is desirable to make it small

It is a perspective view of the refrigerator of one embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the drive mechanism of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is a perspective view which shows the drive mechanism of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. 1 from the downward direction. It is a figure explaining the opening operation | movement of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a figure explaining the closing operation | movement of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a figure explaining the position at the time of the stop of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of opening operation | movement of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure in the case of closing operation of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a top view which shows the modification of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a figure explaining the door opening / closing operation | movement by the conventional cam. It is a perspective view of the drive mechanism explaining the attachment state of each member centering on the rotation drive body shown in FIG. It is a top view for demonstrating operation | movement of the door drive device of FIG. It is a side view of the door drive device of FIG. It is a front view of the door drive device of FIG. It is a top view which shows the reinforcement board structure for attaching the reinforcement board which attaches the connection board of the refrigerator of FIG. 1 to a door frame. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which attached the freezer compartment container to the door frame shown in FIG. 18, and the connecting plate and the rotating plate were combined. FIG. 19B is an enlarged view of a portion where the connecting plate and the rotating plate of FIG. 19A are combined. It is a perspective view of the door frame which attached the reinforcement board in FIG. 19A. It is a figure explaining the opening operation | movement of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure containing the open switch of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is an enlarged view which shows the structure of the open switch of the door drive device of the refrigerator of FIG. It is a perspective view of the door containing the switch operation part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the door shown in FIG. 23, and a switch main body. FIG. 23 is a plan view of the switch operation unit illustrated in FIG. 22 before a push button is operated. It is a figure when the push button of the switch operation part shown in FIG. 22 is operated.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Refrigerator main body, 2 ... Cold storage room, 3 ... Switching room, 4 ... Ice making room, 5 ... Freezing room, 5a ... Freezing room door, 6 ... Vegetable room, 7 ... Operation display part, 8, 8a, 8b ... Open switch DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Door drive device, 11 ... Slide rail, 12 ... Container, 13 ... Closer, 14 ... Magnet packing, 15 ... Drive mechanism, 15a ... Base plate, 16 ... Connection plate, 16a ... Sliding part, 17 ... Door detection Means, 17a ... first door detection means, 17b ... second door detection means, 18 ... drive shaft, 19 ... rotary plate, 20 ... drive pin (drive transmission unit), 20a ... first drive pin (first , 20b... Second drive pin (second drive transmission unit), 20c... Third drive pin (third drive transmission unit), 20d... Fourth drive pin (fourth drive) Transmitting portion), 21 ... receiving surface, 21a ... first receiving surface, 21b ... second receiving surface, 1c ... Third receiving surface, 21d ... Fourth receiving surface, 22 ... Return surface, 23 ... Opening direction, 24 ... Motor, 25 ... Motor pinion, 26 ... Idler, 27 ... Idrapion, 28 ... Idler, 29 ... Idrapion, 30 ... drive gear, 31 ... torque limiting means, 32 ... rotation detecting means, 33 ... movement amount, 34 ... retraction position, 35 ... opening amount, 36 ... arrow, 37a ... first tip, 37b ... second 37c ... third tip, 38 ... gap, 39 ... gap, 40 ... origin range, 41 ... control device, 42 ... power supply, 70 ... notification means, 71 ... door thickness, 72 ... gap between doors, 73 ... maximum opening amount, 74 ... inertia opening amount, 75 ... contact point, 76 ... cam, 77 ... rotation center, 78 ... cam outer periphery, 79 ... cam receiving plate, 80 ... rotation direction, 81 ... arrow, 82 ... cam radius, 83 ... peripheral speed, 84 ... opening speed, 85 ... slip Degree, 86 ... contact point, 87 ... frame, 88 ... push button, 89 ... push bar, 90 ... return spring, 91 ... push amount, 92 ... switch body, 93 ... plunger, 94 ... wiring, 95 ... magnet, 96 ... Guide guides 96a, 96b ... projecting pieces, 97 ... Hall IC, 98 ... Hall IC, 99 ... magnet, 100 ... magnet, 101 ... door frame, 101a ... engagement hole, 102 ... reinforcing plate, 102a ... rising flange, 103 ... container (a), 104 ... container (b), 105 ... box, 105a ... bottom wall, 105b ... side wall, 106 ... hollow flat part, 107 ... hollow flat part, 108 ... screw, 109 ... outer plate, 110 ... End piece (top), 111 ... End piece (bottom), 112 ... Handle, 113 ... Dimple, 114 ... Hand handle, 115 ... Push button, 116 ... Enlargement mechanism, 117 ... Cover plate, 118 ... Output lever DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 119 ... Protection member, 120 ... Push part, 121 ... (121a, 121b) ... Expansion arm, 122 ... Torsion spring, 123 ... Expansion arm 121a counter-fulcrum side edge part, 124 ... Engagement part, 125 ... Locking part 126, 127 ... fulcrum, 128 ... auxiliary leg, 129 ... guide, 130 ... dent.

Claims (4)

A refrigerator body having a storage room;
And pull-out of the door for opening and closing the front opening of the front Symbol storage chamber,
A door driving device for driving the door to open;
A switch body installed on the front surface of the refrigerator body located behind the upper side of the door and outputting an operation command for a drive source of the door drive device;
In a refrigerator provided with a switch operation unit that is installed on the upper side of the door and operates the switch body,
The door comprises an end piece which constitutes the upper side portion,
The end piece is provided with a recessed portion provided in a central portion of the upper surface of the end piece, and a finger receiving portion provided corresponding to the recessed portion,
The switch operation unit is larger the a pushbutton the installed to the finger receiving portion is a formed of a separate member and sliding back and forth of the end piece, the movement of the push button is accommodated in the recessed portion of the end piece And an expansion mechanism for operating the switch body ,
The door drive device includes a drive mechanism having a rotation drive unit, and a rotation mechanism in which a plurality of power transmission units are provided at positions that are driven to rotate by the rotation drive unit and gradually change the distance from the rotation center toward the rotation direction. A member, and a connecting member that receives power from the power transmission unit and contacts the rotating member and moves together with the door in an opening direction,
The connecting member has a plurality of receiving surfaces, and the power of the power transmission unit is transmitted by the receiving surfaces . In Claim 1, the said push button is comprised by the horizontally long plate-shaped member, and the said expansion mechanism is located in the back right and left of the said push button , two push parts formed integrally, and these push parts are formed in these push parts. The one enlarged arm, comprising two enlarged arms that are opposed to and in contact with each other and intersected at an intermediate portion, a torsion spring that returns the enlarged arm, and an output lever that operates the switch body The output lever is attached to the opposite fulcrum side end portion, and the engaging portion of the other enlarged arm is slidably attached to the engaging portion provided in the middle of the one enlarged arm. The enlarged arms are pressed toward the handle portion side, and the two pushing portions are brought into contact between the fulcrum of the two enlarged arms and the engaging portion between the enlarged arms. refrigerator.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the front portion of the handle portion in the front-rear direction is set to 8 to 12 mm, and the push button is installed to slide back and forth within the thickness of the handle portion.   The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a width of the handle portion is 150 mm to 200 mm, and a width of the push button is substantially matched to a width of the handle portion.

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